LiberatedKnowledge Wiki:Writing about Disabilities
Writing about people with disabilities This includes the article's subject and anyone else who may be written about in an article. For example, an actor with a child with a disability would need to follow this policy for sections regarding the actor's child. Determining if a person is disabled On LiberatedKnowledge, a person who an article is being written about is considered to be disabled if they have a condition that limits the person's day-to-day activities. This can include (but is not limited to): *Amputations *Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) *Autism *blindness or visual impairment that is not corrected by glasses *chronic illnesses, such as Epilepsy, Lupus or Multiple Sclerosis *Deafness or hearing impairment *Dementia *General Learning Disability (also known as intellectual disability or global developmental delay) *Mental illnesses, such as Depression, Anxiety or Pyschosis *Mobility impairments, such as paraplegia, Cerebral palsy or spina biffida. *Specific Learning Disabilities, such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia *Speech impairments, such as a stutter or lisp. Only describe a person as having a disability if they have said they have a particular condition in a reliable source. For example, the journalist Frank Gardner is paralysed. He has been shown using a wheelchair numerous times on television and has given interviews and written a book on his paralysis. He could therefore be described as a person with a disability in an article on Frank Gardner. The media often try and make informal diagnosises of disabilities in high-profile people. For instance, many media sources say that Bill Gates has Autism. However, Bill Gates has never said he has Autism. Therefore, an article on Bill Gates should not say he has Autism. Do not try to informally diagnose people as having a disability, as this is a violation of the no original research policy. Sometimes, a person may claim they have a disabilty that they have never been formally diagnosed with. For example, Sharon Osbourne has claimed she may have Tourette's Syndrome, but she does not show any typical symptoms and does not appear to have an official diagnosis. She should not be considered to have Tourette's Syndrome on the basis of this. Historical figures and disability Only say that a person had a disability if a person was officially diagnosed with that disability in their lifetime. If there has been controvery over the person's diagnosis after they died, this may be described. Bear in mind that it is often extremely difficult to diagnose people retrospectively. Often, people will disagree over whether the person had a disability. There may be conflicting accounts of a person's symptoms, behaviours and early life. For example, source A says that a person regularly fainted and source B says a person regularly had seizures. Today, medical would be done if there were any confusion, but historically, such technology was not avaliable and so sources may be contradictory. As what point is a child considered to be struggling academically? When is an interest an obession? For example, some sources say that the physisist Albert Einstein struggled in school, while others say he excelled. Those who say he struggled often say that he had Dyslexia, ADHD or Autism. Sometimes a retrospective diagnosis is made to exonerate a person of wrongdoing or to provide inspiration for other people with a certain condition. People can be very eagar to describe a person as having a disability for those reasons, even when there is little substantial evidence that this is the case. A person may be an expert in hisory but not in medicine, or an expert in medicine but not in history. Removing or changing a person's diagnosis in an article If there are strong sources that a person has a disability, a diagnosis should only be removed or changed if the person who the article is about confirms that their diagnosis has been removed or changed. That the person was diagnosed with a condition in the past can be left in the article with an explaination that they are no longer considered to have that condition. If there are no reliable sources that a person has a condition, mentions of the diagnosis may be removed from the article. Language LiberatedKnowledge Wiki prefers person-first language. The exception to this is when the article is about someone who prefers deaf-first or identity-first language. Say:Person with Dyslexia, people with Dyslexia Avoid saying: Dyslexic person, Dyslexics Wrong: Tragically, Patel was left paralyzed. Right: Patel became paralyzed. Wrong:Sadly, Epstein's third child was born with Down Syndrome. Right: Epstein's third child has Down Syndrome Terminology for disabilities Please use the most recent terminology for a disability. Say: Intellectual disability, learning disability, generalised learning disability. Do not say: Retarded, mentally handicapped, mentally deficient. Say: Cerebral palsy Do not say: Spastic Do not describe or imply that a disability is tragic or describe people with disabilities as sufferers or victims. Avoid: Victim, sufferer, tragically diagnosed with (for example, a Tourette's victim, a Tourette's sufferer, tragically diagnosed with Tourette's) Say: person with, has (for example, has Tourette's syndrome, a person with Tourette's syndrome) Category:LK Policy